Spike missile heads toward long-range precision munition shoot-off VIDEO

Lockheed Martin and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems recently completed test flights in Israel to prepare for a shoot-off this fall meant to help the U.S. Army choose a long-range precision weapon for its AH-64E Apache helicopters and its future attack reconnaissance aircraft.

Long-range munitions for the service’s future aircraft will be critical to engage an enemy’s defensive positions from a comfortable standoff — or a range beyond the enemy’s detection, Defense News reported on October 10.

The American-Israeli tie-up is the only team to go public with its participation and its offering. However, the Army has revealed it chose three systems to participate in the shoot-off at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, later this month.

The Lockheed-Rafael offering is the latter’s latest version of its Spike Non-Line-of-Sight missile. Lockheed made the weapon compatible with fire from the Army’s Modular Effects Launcher, which is currently in development, according to Tom Bargnesi, a senior program manager with the company.

Rafael unveiled its sixth-generation version of the Spike NLOS munition ahead of the Eurosatory defence show in Paris, France, in June. The new variant has an increased range, pushing beyond 40 kilometres (25 miles) to a range of 50 kilometres.

The next-generation version “is more compatible with the Army’s requirements for its LRPM program” than the interim system the Army chose several years ago — an earlier version of the Spike NLOS.

The Army chose Rafael and Lockheed to provide Spike NLOS as the interim capability for its Apache helicopters in early 2020. The team signed a contract with the service in November 2021.

The first Apache equipped with the interim Spike NLOS for testing will begin flying in November. Then the helo will fire its first missile in January 2023, Bargnesi said earlier this year.

The company will outfit two test birds, he said, after which the Army will install Spike on the remaining Apaches — the latest V6 helicopter variant — for the first unit equipped by the end of 2023. Fielding will conclude at the end of fiscal 2024.

Lockheed and Rafael said the shoot-off for Spike will take place October 17-28. The event will not take place in the air, Bargnesi noted, but rather from the ground based on the Army’s requirements.

To recall, during the 2020 July sabotage of Armenia in the Tovuz direction, Azerbaijan for the first time used in battles Spike NLOS - a universal multi-purpose, multi-platform, electro-optical missile system operating on the technology of firing in the absence of target visibility.